OotP: A Marauders Reaction
by Convicted-of-the-Saucy
Summary: The marauders, well 3 out of 4 of them plus Lily and her friend read OotP! 2nd chapter is when they start reading! Enjoy! Chapter 7 up!Truth or Dare. What Lily picked
1. Chapter 1

Hello my loverly readers!

I,

Click Here aka Amy aka choo-choo aka Amy Choco-nut,

Am proud to present my third fic, entitled, OotP: A Marauders Reaction.

Basically my favourite cliché, the Marauders read the fifth Harry Potter book and of course Petey's not going to be reading it, what kind of person do you think I am?

This will be one of my MWPP era fics and I hope you enjoy it!

Disclaimer: I do not own the characters or the parts you recognise from your readings of the fifth book. However if Jo Rowling is reading this I would be happy to oblige:hint:hint:

Without further ado:

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OotP: A Marauders Reaction

In London nothing would ever seem out of the ordinary, which is of course if you didn't pay attention to anything and everything you saw. Petunia Evans was one of those people, picking out peoples deficiencies and constantly criticizing everything that wasn't as normal as her, and that was _very_ normal.

One thing that made Petunia's criticizing easier was her sister Lily. Lily was pretty, popular and adored by boys, now on normal circumstances this would be okay, but these circumstances weren't normal. Lily was a witch, she could do magic with a wand, she learned potions, spells and charms in a private wizarding school in Northern Scotland.

Her sister thought this very abnormal and she had hated Lily ever since she got her acceptance letter. It made things even worse that she had made Head Girl this year. Lily had screamed, jumped around the house and tied up the phone ringing her best friend Serena, who had a muggle dad and a magic mom, and this annoyed Petunia even more because she couldn't ring her boyfriend Vernon Dursley.

Two things that had brightened her mood, if only slightly, was the fact that Lily would be spending the last month of the Summer break in a wizards house, and Lily hated this particular wizard. This meant that Petunia had the house magic free for a whole month and the satisfaction that her sister would be spending that same month with someone she couldn't stand.

Lily walked in the room and Petunia walked straight out to call Vernon, but not before shooting a glare at her sister. Lily sighed, in a few minutes her best friend Serena Malfoy would walk through her front door they would hug, laugh and then say goodbye to Lily's parents. Lily strummed her fingers on the arm of the chair; she often did this when she was anxious.

She would have to spend the next month with James Potter and Sirius Black, Hogwarts heartthrobs, of course Remus Lupin was there friend to but he would only come to visit every day and would not be staying the night. These were three out of the four in their gang, the last being Peter Pettigrew, who was visiting his Aunt in America and would be back the last night of August. Peter was the weakest, dumbest and less attractive of the group and often just tottered along behind them. They called them selves The Marauders and the first three could get most girls in the school fawning over them. Remus wasn't as cocky or as pig headed as Sirius or James and Lily had come to know this two years previous because of prefect patrolling duties. She found it easy to talk to Remus because he wasn't constantly ruffling his hair or trying to get her to go out with him. James Potter had asked her out every day last year and all two hundred and seventy two times she had turned him down. He soon had come to realise that she wasn't interested in him when he saw her with her fifth boyfriend Amos Diggory.

It broke his heart when he saw them together, but then he started with his flavour of the month, Cliosa Silverstone. The dark haired Gryffindor, that had been throwing herself at James and Sirius for four years, finally got her turn to go out with him. James dumped her after three weeks, she was getting way too clingy for his liking.

Sirius had his own girl trouble, Lily's best friend Serena had turned Sirius down countless time too. Serena was unique and an individual, her long blonde hair and blue eyes were the envy of most girls and her positive attitude was just what Lily needed after encounters with James.

There was a knock at the door and Lily jumped up straight away, opening the door she engulfed her friend in a colossal hug. Once she let go they both laughed and said farewell to Lily's parents.

Setting her stuff in Serena's car, they started up and sped of in the direction of James' house, awaiting what they thought to be the worst month of their lives

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Review!


	2. The book

I'm glad that the last chapter was to _almost_ everyone's liking!

A few notes to my reviewers:

**An Adult** Okay, I'm normally very good at handling bad criticism, but not when someone pretends to be something they're not. I don't think an actual adult would use words like "_sucked but_", "_crap_" and "_stinky_". And as for me omitting Peter, well if they were reading OotP I wouldn't want them to kill him when they found out and I never let my feelings get in the way of my writing! Tell you what _hon_, why don't go back and don't review another story under that name, _unless_ you can talk like an adult and not an eight year old. Oh and unless you want to be the next Simon Cowell I suggest you tone down the harshness.

**StarrySkies1478**9 Thanks for being my first nice reviewer! Your first question will be answered shortly and Serena is in Ravenclaw.

**Phoenixtear19** Thank you!

**Remus'Fiance** Thank you also! You rock too!

**

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Chapter 2**

James Potter had been up since dawn, his crush, Lily Evans, was coming to stay for the next month and everything had to be perfect. The house elves were making the beds in the girls' room, Sirius was downstairs disarming the pranks in the living room and he, James Potter was cooking.

Lily Evans had turned him down every time he had asked her out, but he still had hope. _This year things will change,_ he thought. _This year she'll see how responsible, mature and professional I can be._ He smiled as he thought of Sirius' reaction when he told him. He feigned a faint and started the dramatic crying and baby names, but he recovered to say, 'Go for it mate! As soon as you start with Evans, I can go out with Serena,' he said her name dreamily, like when Remus talked about chocolate.

James put the garnish on the spaghetti and left it in the centre of the table; he then went out into the foyer. Glancing around, just to make sure everything was perfect, he smiled. He would have to praise Dumbledore for this, after all it had been the ancient wizards idea to have the girls over.

James had been made Head Boy and Lily Head Girl. Dumbledore thought it best if they spent some time over the summer getting to know one another because they would be sharing a dorm for a whole year. Lily would not agree to this unless she could bring a friend and that's why Serena was coming.

James glanced at his watch, it was half past one and the girls would be here any minute. He stood there, in front of the door for a few minutes and then he started pacing. He was very nervous, the last time Lily had spoken to him was the train home from Hogwarts and she wasn't exactly friendly. The Marauders were planning a prank on Severus Snape, but instead of him coming to the compartment it was Lily. She got covered in stink-sap, covered in feathers and then, out from her blemish-free skin grew a beak. After that she had vowed to make James' life a living hell.

A soft knock came at the door and James stopped his pacing instantly. Walking slowly towards the door, he reached out and gulped. Pulling open the door he revealed two girls who looked quite impatient.

'Hello ladies!' he greeted with his usual grin that made most girls go weak at the knees. Unfortunately for James it had no effect on Lily and Serena. They gave him a glare and walked past him looking around the foyer. He sighed and closed the door.

Serena nudged her friend and pointed at the vase in the centre of the room, which was filled with lilies. Lily just rolled her eyes and left her bags down.

Serena put hers down when the infamous Sirius Black stepped into the room. Wearing a stupid lovesick grin on his face he walked straight over to her and gave a big hug, to which she responded by kicking him in the shin. After he let go he smiled at her and winked. 'Love, you can't fight it forever. Just _give in_,' he whispered.

She smiled seductively and whispered, 'I'll give in when Lils goes out with Potter, willingly.' She then narrowed her eyes at him.

After a few minutes of silence James directed them into the kitchen and got them seated. They each had some spaghetti and ate in total silence. Every so often Lily would catch James staring at her, to which she would glare.

After they had finished with their food, James brought them upstairs and they sat down in they library slash Game Room. It had a gob stones ring and, for some reason, a snooker table. Lily wondered why, because snooker was a muggle sport. The library intrigued Lily because she had a thirst for knowledge and this library had almost every book that was found in Hogwarts' library and several that weren't.

Lily and Serena read and talked for a while, while James and Sirius joked around and played snooker. Remus came later on in the day and played against James, who was reining champion while Sirius got snacks from downstairs.

After 'Snack Time' they resumed what they were doing before, with the exception of Remus who looked through one of the shelves full of books. Slowly scanning the titles he came across one that interested him, _Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix_. He brought it over to the couch and asked, 'James, do you have a relative called Harry?' James shook his head. Lily spoke up, 'My dad's name is Harry.'

'Interesting,' said Remus. 'This book is called _Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix _and, by golly, it's from the year two-thousand and three!'

James grabbed the book from his hands and read the inside page, 'He's not kidding!'

'Well read it so!' said Sirius, impatiently. Let's see if he's related to you, Prongs!' Lily and Serena looked at Sirius in astonishment.

'What? I am allowed to read!' he defended. Remus opened the book and flipped over a few pages. He cleared his throat and began to read,

'_Chapter One, Dudley Demented_'

'I wonder who Dudley is,' said James.

'_The hottest day of the summer so far was drawing to a close and a drowsy silence lay over the large, square houses of Privet Drive. Cars that were usually gleaming stood dusty in their drives and lawns that were once emerald green lay parched and yellowing -for the use of hosepipes had been banned due to drought. Deprived of their usual car-washing and lawn-mowing pursuits, the inhabitants of Privet Drive had retreated into the shade of their cool houses, windows thrown wide in the hope of tempting in a nonexistent breeze. The only person left outdoors was a teenage boy who was lying flat on his back in a flowerbed outside number four.'_

'Why the bloody hell was he outside? In a Flowerbed?' asked Sirius.

'Just shut up and let him get on with the story!' said Lily.

'_He was a skinny, black-haired, bespectacled boy who had the pinched, slightly unhealthy look of someone who has grown a lot in a short space of time.'_

'Sounds like he's related to you Prongs'

'_His jeans were torn and dirty, his T-shirt baggy and faded, and the soles of his trainers were peeling away from the uppers. Harry Potter's appearance did not endear him to the neighbours, who were the sort of people who thought scruffy-ness, ought to be punishable by law, but as he had hidden himself behind a large hydrangea bush this evening he was quite invisible to passers-by. In fact, the only way he would be spotted was if his Uncle Vernon or Aunt Petunia stuck their heads out of the living-room window and looked straight down into the flowerbed below'_

'You know what's weird? My sister Petunia is going out with a guy call Vernon. He's very fat and not very open to unnaturalness as he calls it,' thought Lily aloud.

'_On the whole, Harry thought he was to be congratulated on his idea of hiding here'_

'Definitely a relative of yours Prongs, he has your ego'

'_He was not, perhaps, very comfortable lying on the hot, hard earth'_

'And he's as thick as you too Potter,' said Lily.

_but, on the other hand, nobody was glaring at him, grinding their teeth so loudly that he could not hear the news, or shooting nasty questions at him, as had happened every time he had tried sitting down in the living room to watch television with his aunt and uncle _

_Almost as though this thought had fluttered through the open window, Vernon Dursley, Harry's uncle, suddenly spoke_

_'Glad to see the boy's stopped trying to butt in. Where is he, anyway?' '_

'Why can't he call Harry by his name?'

_'I don't know,' said Aunt Petunia, unconcerned. 'Not in the house.' _

_Uncle Vernon grunted. _

_'Watching the news ' he said scathingly. 'I'd like to know what he's really up to. As if a normal boy cares what's on the news -Dudley hasn't got a clue what's going on; doubt he knows who the Prime Minister is! Anyway, it's not as if there'd be anything about his lot on our news' _

_'Vernon, Shhh!' said Aunt Petunia. The window's open!' _

'She sounds exactly like my sister'

_'Oh - yes - sorry, dear.' _

_The Dursleys fell silent. Harry listened to a jingle about Fruit 'n' Bran breakfast cereal while he watched Mrs Figg, a batty cat-loving old lady from nearby Wisteria Walk, amble slowly past. She was frowning and muttering to herself. Harry was very pleased, he was concealed behind the bush, as Mrs Figg had recently taken to asking him round for tea whenever she met him in the street. She had rounded the corner and vanished from view before Uncle Vernon's voice floated out of the window again. _

_'Dudders out for tea?'_

The five students snorted

_'At the Polkisses',' said Aunt Petunia fondly. 'He's got so many little friends, he's so popular _

_Harry suppressed a snort with difficulty. The Dursleys really were astonishingly stupid about their son, Dudley. They had swallowed all his dim-witted lies about having tea with a different member of his gang every night of the summer holidays. Harry knew perfectly well that Dudley had not been to tea anywhere; he and his gang spent every evening vandalising the play park, smoking on street corners and throwing stones at passing cars and children. Harry had seen them at it during his evening walks around Little Whinging; he had spent most of the holidays wandering the streets, scavenging newspapers from bins along the way._

'I wonder where his parents are,' said Serena. The others shrugged.

_The opening notes of the music that heralded the seven o'clock news reached Harry's ears and his stomach turned over. Perhaps tonight - after a month of waiting - would be the night. _

'The night for what?' asked Sirius. 'Well Prongs if this is your kid, then who knows what he'll be up to.'

_'Record numbers of stranded holiday makers fill airports as the Spanish baggage-handlers' strike reaches its second week - _

_'Give 'em a lifelong siesta, I would,' snarled Uncle Vernon over the end of the newsreader's sentence, but no matter: outside in the flowerbed, Harry's stomach seemed to unclench. If anything had happened, it would surely have been the first item on the news; death and destruction were more important than stranded holidaymakers._

'You don't think it has anything to do with _him_, do you?'

'Nah'

_He let out a long, slow breath and stared up at the brilliant blue sky. Every day this summer had been the same: the tension, the expectation, the temporary relief, and then mounting tension again and always, growing more insistent all the time, the question of why nothing had happened yet. _

_He kept listening, just in case there was some small clue, not recognised for what it really was by the Muggles - an unexplained disappearance, perhaps, or some strange accident but the baggage-handlers' strike was followed by news about the drought in the Southeast ('I hope he's listening next door!' bellowed Uncle Vernon. 'Him with his sprinklers on at three in the morning!'), then a helicopter that had almost crashed in a field in Surrey, then a famous actress's divorce from her famous husband ('As if we're interested in their sordid affairs,' sniffed Aunt Petunia, who had followed the case obsessively in every magazine she could lay her bony hands on). _

'Yes, this is most definitely like my sister!'

'But if this was _my_ kid, Evans, what would he be doing with _your_ sister, _unless_-'

'Don't even think it Potter!'

_Harry closed his eyes against the now blazing evening sky as the newsreader said, '- and finally, Bungy the budgie has found a novel way of keeping cool this summer. Bungy, who lives at the Five Feathers in Barnsley, has learned to water ski! Mary Dorkins went to find out more.' _

_Harry opened his eyes. If they had reached water-skiing budgerigars, there would be nothing else worth hearing. He rolled cautiously on to his front and raised himself on to his knees and elbows, preparing to crawl out from under the window. _

_He had moved about two inches when several things happened in very quick succession. _

_A loud, echoing crack broke the sleepy silence like a gunshot; a cat streaked out from under a parked car and flew out of sight; a shriek, a bellowed oath and the sound of breaking china came from the Dursleys' living room, and as though this was the signal Harry had been waiting for he jumped to his feet, at the same time pulling from the waistband of his jeans a thin wooden wand'_

When Remus read this, James and Sirius burst out laughing, but quickly shut up after a glare from the girls.

'_As if he were unsheathing a sword - but before he could draw himself up to full height, the top of his head collided with the Dursleys' open window. The resultant crash made Aunt Petunia scream even louder. _

_Harry felt as though his head had been split in two. Eyes streaming, he swayed, trying to focus on the street to spot the source of the noise, but he had barely staggered upright when two large purple hands reached through the open window and closed tightly around his throat.'_

'That's child abuse!' gasped Lily.

_'Put - it - away!' Uncle Vernon snarled into Harry's ear. 'Now.' Before - anyone - sees!' _

_'Get - off - me!' Harry gasped. For a few seconds they struggled, Harry pulling at his uncles sausage-like fingers with his left hand, his right maintaining a firm grip on his raised wand; then, as the pain in the top of Harry's head gave a particularly nasty throb, Uncle Vernon yelped and released Harry as though he had received an electric shock. Some invisible force seemed to have surged through his nephew, making him impossible to hold. _

'Cool'

_Panting, Harry fell forwards over the hydrangea bush, straightened up and stared around. There was no sign of what had caused the loud cracking noise, but there were several faces peering through various nearby windows. Harry stuffed his wand hastily back into his jeans and tried to look innocent._

'But failed miserably like his dad,' said Sirius.

_'Lovely evening!' shouted Uncle Vernon, waving at Mrs Number Seven opposite, who was glaring from behind her net curtains. 'Did you hear that car backfire just now? Gave Petunia and me quite a turn!' _

_He continued to grin in a horrible, manic way until all the curious neighbours had disappeared from their various windows, and then the grin became a grimace of rage as he beckoned Harry back towards him._

'Uh-oh'

_Harry moved a few steps closer, taking care to stop just short of the point at which Uncle Vernon's outstretched hands could resume their strangling. _

_'What the devil do you mean by it, boy?' asked Uncle Vernon in a croaky voice that trembled with fury. _

_'What do I mean by what?' said Harry coldly. He kept looking left and right up the street, still hoping to see the person who had made the cracking noise. _

_'Making a racket like a starting pistol right outside our –_

'He didn't make that noise,' said Lily.

_'I didn't make that noise,' said Harry firmly._

Lily blushed as the others looked shocked and James smiled to himself.

_Aunt Petunia's thin, horsy face now appeared beside Uncle Vernon's wide, purple one. She looked livid._

Lily gasped and the others looked at her. She said, 'My sister has a thin, horsy face!'

_'Why were you lurking under our window?' _

_'Yes - yes, good point, Petunia! What were you doing under our window, boy?' _

_'Listening to the news,' said Harry in a resigned voice. _

_His aunt and uncle exchanged looks of outrage. _

_'Listening to the news! Again?' _

_'Well, it changes every day, you see,' said Harry. _

Everyone in the room laughed.

_'Don't you be clever with me, boy! I want to know what you're really up to - and don't give me any more of this listening to the news tosh! You know perfectly well that your lot - _

_'Careful, Vernon!' breathed Aunt Petunia, and Uncle Vernon lowered his voice so that Harry could barely hear him,'- that your lot don't get on our news!' _

_'That's all you know,' said Harry. _

_The Dursleys goggled at him for a few seconds, and then Aunt Petunia said, 'You're a nasty little liar. What are all those –' she, too, lowered her voice so that Harry had to lip-read the next word, '- owls doing if they're not bringing you news?' _

'Just because the owls are bringing him papers doesn't mean that they had news,' stated James.

_'Aha!' said Uncle Vernon in a triumphant whisper. 'Get out of that one, boy! As if we didn't know you get all your news from those pestilential birds!' _

_Harry hesitated for a moment. It cost him something to tell the truth this time, even though his aunt and uncle could not possibly know how bad he felt at admitting it. _

_'The owls aren't bringing me news,' he said tonelessly. _

_'I don't believe it,' said Aunt Petunia at once. _

_'No more do I,' said Uncle Vernon forcefully. _

_'We know you're up to something funny,' said Aunt Petunia. _

'Well he is the son of a Marauder. Or at least related to one!'

_'We're not stupid, you know,' said Uncle Vernon. _

_'Well, that's news to me,' said Harry,'_

'He seem to be as cheeky as you Prongs'

' _his temper rising,'_

'And he has his mum's fiery temper,' Sirius added with a wink at Lily._ 'And before the Dursleys could call him back, he had wheeled about, crossed the front lawn, stepped over the low garden wall and was striding off up the street.'_

'I think we'll stop there, we have to go show you your rooms,' James said to the girls.

And they set off down the Hall, bringing the book with them.

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Okay, 

How was it?

Please tell me what you think, but tone down the flames a bit!

Review!


	3. Dementors

Hello again!

I would like to express my greatest thanks to all my reviewers! I got eight reviews!

**Maykwa** Aww Thanks!

-**x-Peaches N Cream-x-** Thanx 4 Ur review! Lol

**Remus'Fiance** Thanks! Glad you'll never flame!

**Kelsey and James Dean** Thanks! I normally just read L/J fics but got into this cliché.

**Miss-Cody-James** Thanks!

**StarrySkies14789** Nice quote! I agree, and I'm sure you'll be a great singer!

**FuNnY cIdE** Thanks!

**Cutiepiepink angel** Okay, here I go!

Please review this chapter if you read it! If the anonymous reviews are disabled you can always review or contact me through my e-mail found on my user profile.

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Chapter 3

James led the way down the Hall and at the end he stopped in front a large white door. He put his hand on the gold handle and turned it. Opening the door very slowly, trying to create a moment. Lily and Serena both rolled their eyes behind him. Finally the door was fully open and the room was in view.

Ivory carpets and walls radiated the room and gold framed, four poster beds stood gleaming with crisp white sheets. The girls walked in, looking around. The room was entirely immaculate. Serena went straight into the bathroom and Lily went over to one of the beds. Sitting on the side she lightly bounced up and down. She noticed the bed was well suspended and she lay back. It was like floating on a cloud, is was so soft, so heavenly.

Serena appeared, smiling and they both started to laugh. The boys walked through the doorframe and sat, or in Sirius' case lay, on the bed opposite.

'Now that you've seen the room, can we please get on with the story?' whined Sirius. Everyone nodded and he grabbed the book off Remus, he started to read;

_He was in trouble now and he knew it. He would have to face his aunt and uncle later and pay the price for his rudeness, but he did not care very much just at the moment; he had much more pressing matters on his mind. A fit girl with blonde hair was staring at him from across the road and he went over instantly pulling her into a passionate kis-_

Sirius had stopped reading as Lily threw a pillow at him. She took the book off him and began to read the _real_ story.

_But he did not care very much just at the moment; he had much more pressing matters on his mind. _

_Harry was sure the cracking noise had been made by someone Apparating or Disapparating. It was exactly the sound Dobby the house-elf made when he vanished into thin air. Was it possible that Dobby was here in Privet Drive? Could Dobby be following him right at this very moment? _

'Hey James, Your kid is as paranoid as Mad-Eye Moody'

_As this thought occurred he wheeled around and stared back down Privet Drive, but it appeared to be completely deserted and Harry was sure that Dobby did not know how to become invisible. _

_He walked on, hardly aware of the route he was taking, for he had pounded these streets so often lately that his feet carried him to his favourite haunts automatically. Every few steps he glanced back over his shoulder._

'Definitely paranoid!'

'SHUT UP SIRIUS'

_Someone magical had been near him as he lay among Aunt Petunia's dying begonias, he was sure of it. Why hadn't they spoken to him, why hadn't they made contact, why were they hiding now? _

_And then, as his feeling of frustration peaked, his certainty leaked away. _

_Perhaps it hadn't been a magical sound after all. Perhaps he was so desperate for the tiniest sign of contact from the world to which he belonged that he was simply overreacting to perfectly ordinary noises. Could he be sure it hadn't been the sound of something breaking inside a neighbour's house? _

_Harry felt a dull, sinking sensation in his stomach and before he knew it the feeling of hopelessness that had plagued him all summer rolled over him once again. _

_Tomorrow morning he would be woken by the alarm at five o'clock so he could pay the owl that delivered the Daily Prophet -but was there any point continuing to take it? Harry merely glanced at the front page before throwing it aside these days; when the idiots who ran the paper finally realised that Voldemort was back it would be headline news and that was the only kind Harry cared about. _

Lily stopped reading; everyone in the room had gone pale and looked petrified. Voldemort was back? When had he been defeated? Who had defeated him? She continued reading, curious to find more information.

_If he was lucky, there would also be owls carrying letters from his best friends Ron and Hermione, though any expectation he'd had that their letters would bring him news had long since been dashed. _

**_We can't say much about you-know-what, obviously We've been told not to say anything important in case our letters go astray We're quite busy but I can't give you details here There's a fair amount going on, we'll tell you everything when we see you._**

'It sounds like Ron and Hermione are staying in the same house!'

_But when were they going to see him? Nobody seemed too bothered with a precise date. Hermione had scribbled I expect we'll be seeing you quite soon inside his birthday card, but how soon was soon? As far as Harry could tell from the vague hints in their letters, Hermione and Ron were in the same place, presumably at Ron's parents' house. He could hardly bear to think of the pair of them having fun at The Burrow when he was stuck in Privet Drive. In fact, he was so angry with them he had thrown away, unopened, the two boxes of Honeydukes chocolates they'd sent him for his birthday._

At this Lily stopped again and looked expectantly at Remus and sure enough he looked as though Christmas was cancelled.

_He'd regretted it later, after the wilted salad Aunt Petunia had provided for dinner that night. _

_And what were Ron and Hermione busy with? Why wasn't he, Harry, busy? Hadn't he proved himself capable of handling much more than them? Had they all forgotten what he had done? Hadn't it been he who had entered that graveyard and watched Cedric being murdered, and been tied to that tombstone and nearly killed?_

After she had read each event the audience had gasped.

_Don't think about that, Harry told himself sternly for the hundredth lime that summer. It was bad enough that he kept revisiting the graveyard in his nightmares, without dwelling on it in his waking moments too. _

_He turned a corner into Magnolia Crescent; halfway along he passed the narrow alleyway down the side of a garage where he had first clapped eyes on his godfather._

'Oooooh I wonder who you appointed as Godfather Prongs'

_Sirius, _

'YAY'

_At least, seemed to understand how Harry was feeling. Admittedly, his letters were just as empty of proper news as Ron and Hermione's, but at least they contained words of caution and consolation instead of tantalizing hints: _

_I know this must be frustrating for you keep your nose clean and everything will be OK be careful and don't do anything rash _

'That's not you Black, it must be some other Sirius'

_Well, thought Harry, as he crossed Magnolia Crescent, turned into Magnolia Road and headed towards the darkening play park, he had (by and .large) done as Sirius advised. He had at least resisted the temptation to tie his trunk to his broomstick and set off for The Burrow by himself. In fact, Harry thought his behaviour had been very good considering how frustrated and angry he felt at being stuck in Privet Drive so long, reduced to hiding in flowerbeds in the hope of hearing something that might point to what Lord Voldemort was doing. _

'I wonder why he's concerned about him,' said James. The others just shrugged.

_Nevertheless, it was quite galling to be told not to be rash by a man who had served twelve years in the wizard prison, Azkaban, escaped, attempted to commit the murder he had been convicted for in the first place, and then gone on the run with a stolen Hippogriff._

Everyone looked at Sirius and he said, 'You know what Serena? I'm starting to agree with you!'

_Harry vaulted over the locked park gate and set off across the parched grass. The park was as empty as the surrounding streets. When he reached the swings he sank on to the only one that Dudley and his friends had not yet managed to break, coiled one arm around the chain and stared moodily at the ground. He would not be able to hide in the Dursleys' flowerbed again. Tomorrow, he would have to think of some fresh way of listening to the news. In the meantime, he had nothing to look forward to but another restless, disturbed night, because even when he escaped the nightmares about Cedric he had unsettling dreams about long dark corridors, all finishing in dead ends and locked doors, which he supposed had something to do with the trapped feeling he had when he was awake. Often the old scar on his forehead prickled uncomfortably, but he did not fool himself that Ron or Hermione or Sirius would find that very interesting any more. In the past, his scar hurting had warned that Voldemort was getting stronger again, _

'Cool a You-Know-Who detector!'

_But now that Voldemort was back they would probably remind him that its regular irritation was only to be expected nothing to worry about old news _

_The injustice of it all welled up inside him so that he wanted to yell with fury. If it hadn't been for him, nobody would even have known Voldemort was back! And his reward was to be stuck in Little Whinging for four solid weeks, completely cut off from the magical world, reduced to squatting among dying begonias so that he could hear about water-skiing budgerigars! How could Dumbledore have forgotten him so easily? _

'Okay can we recap?' asked James. 'His last name is Potter, his first name is the same as Lily's dad, Sirius is mentioned and Dumbledore is mentioned? Okay I really do think he is related to me, if not my son.'

_Why had Ron and Hermione got together without inviting him along, too? How much longer was he supposed to endure Sirius telling him to sit tight and be a good boy?_

_Everyone except Sirius laughed._

_Or resist the temptation to write to the stupid Daily Prophet and point out that Voldemort had returned? These furious thoughts whirled around in Harry's head, and his insides writhed with anger as a sultry, velvety night fell around him, the air full of the smell of warm, dry grass, and the only sound that of the low grumble of traffic on the road beyond the park railings. _

_He did not know how long he had sat on the swing before the sound of voices interrupted his musings and he looked up. The streetlamps from the surrounding roads were casting a misty glow strong enough to silhouette a group of people making their way across the park. One of them was singing a loud, crude song. The others were laughing. A soft ticking noise came from several expensive racing bikes that they were wheeling along. _

_Harry knew who those people were. The figure in front was unmistakably his cousin, Dudley Dursley, wending his way home, accompanied by his faithful gang. _

'Sounds like Malfoy and his goons'

_Dudley was as vast as ever, but a year's hard dieting and the discovery of a new talent had wrought quite a change in his physique. As Uncle Vernon delightedly told anyone who would listen, Dudley had recently become the Junior Heavyweight Inter-School Boxing Champion of the Southeast. 'The noble sport', as Uncle Vernon called it, had made Dudley even more formidable than he had seemed to Harry in their primary school days when he had served as Dudley's first punch ball. _

'That's awful!'

_Harry was not remotely afraid of his cousin any more but he still didn't think that Dudley learning to punch harder and more accurately was cause for celebration. Neighbourhood children all around were terrified of him - even more terrified than they were of 'that Potter boy' who, they had been warned, was a hardened hooligan and attended St Brutus's Secure Centre for Incurably Criminal Boys._

'WHAT? My son does not go to a centre for juvenile criminals'

_Harry watched the dark figures crossing the grass and wondered who they had been beating up tonight. Look round, Harry found himself thinking as he watched them. Come on look round I'm sitting here all alone come and have a go. _

_If Dudley's friends saw him sitting here, they would be sure to make a beeline for him and what would Dudley do then? He wouldn't want to lose face in front of the gang, but he'd be terrified of provoking Harry it would be really fun to watch Dudley's dilemma, to taunt him, watch him, with him powerless to respond and if any of the others tried hitting Harry, he was ready - he had his wand. Let them try he'd love to vent some of his frustration on the boys who had once made his life hell. _

_But they didn't turn around, they didn't see him, they were almost at the railings. Harry mastered the impulse to call after them seeking a fight was not a smart move he must not use magic he would be risking expulsion again._

'What does he mean again?' asked Remus.

_The voices of Dudley's gang died away; they were out of sight, heading along Magnolia Road. _

_There you go, Sirius, Harry thought dully. Nothing rash. Kept my nose clean. Exactly the opposite of what you'd have done._

'No doubting that!'

_He got to his feet and stretched. Aunt Petunia and Uncle Vernon seemed to feel that whenever Dudley turned up was the right time to be home, and any time after that was much too late. Uncle Vernon had threatened to lock Harry in the shed if he came home after Dudley ever again, so, stifling a yawn, and still scowling, Harry set off towards the park gate. _

_Magnolia Road, like Privet Drive, was full of large, square houses with perfectly manicured lawns, all owned by large, square owners who drove very clean cars similar to Uncle Vernon's. Harry preferred Little Whinging by night, when the curtained windows made patches of jewel-bright colour in the darkness and he ran no danger of hearing disapproving mutters about his 'delinquent' appearance when he passed the householders. He walked quickly, so that halfway along Magnolia Road Dudley's gang came into view again; they were saying their farewells at the entrance to Magnolia Crescent. Harry stepped into the shadow of a large lilac tree and waited. _

'_Squealed like a pig, didn't he?' Malcolm was saying, to guffaws from the others. _

_'Nice right hook, Big D,' said Piers._

Everyone laughed at the nickname.

_'Same time tomorrow?' said Dudley. _

_'Round at my place, my parents will be out,' said Gordon. _

_'See you then,' said Dudley. _

_'Bye, Dud!' _

_'See ya, Big D!' _

_Harry waited for the rest of the gang to move on before setting off again. When their voices had faded once more he headed around the corner into Magnolia Crescent and by walking very quickly he soon came within hailing distance of Dudley, who was strolling along at his ease, humming tunelessly. _

_'Hey, Big D!' _

_Dudley turned. _

_'Oh,' he grunted. 'It's you.' _

_'How long have you been "Big D" then?' said Harry._

'Yes, he's definitely yours Prongs. He goes looking for trouble!'

_'Shut it,' snarled Dudley, turning away. _

_'Cool name,' said Harry, grinning and falling into step beside his cousin. 'But you'll always be "Ickle Diddykins" to me.' _

A chorus of laughter issued from the room and eased of after a moment or two.

_'I said, SHUT IT!' said Dudley, whose ham-like hands had curled into fists. _

_'Don't the boys know that's what your mum calls you?' _

_'Shut your face.' _

_'You don't tell her to shut her face. What about "Popkin" and "Dinky Diddydums", can I use them then?' _

Sniggers were heard from the Marauders and the girls knew, thanks to this book, they would have more taunts to shout at their victims.

_Dudley said nothing. The effort of keeping himself from hitting Harry seemed to demand all his self-control. _

_'So who've you been beating up tonight?' Harry asked, his grin fading. 'Another ten-year-old? I know you did Mark Evans two nights ago -_

_'He was asking for it,' snarled Dudley. _

_'Oh yeah?' _

_'He cheeked me.' _

_'Yeah? Did he say you look like a pig that's been taught to walk on its hind legs? 'Cause that's not cheek, Dud, that's true.' _

Everyone laughed again.

_A muscle was twitching in Dudley's jaw. It gave Harry enormous satisfaction to know how furious he was making Dudley; he felt as though he was siphoning off his own frustration into his cousin, the only outlet he had. _

_They turned right down the narrow alleyway where Harry had first seen Sirius and which formed a short cut between Magnolia Crescent and Wisteria Walk. It was empty and much darker than the streets it linked because there were no streetlamps. Their footsteps were muffled between garage walls on one side and a high fence on the other. _

'_Think you're a big man carrying that thing, don't you?' Dudley said after a few seconds. _

_'What thing?' _

_'That - that thing you are hiding.' _

_Harry grinned again. _

_'Not as stupid as you look, are you, Dud? But I's'pose, if you were, you wouldn't be able to walk and talk at the same time.' _

Everyone, except Sirius who didn't get the joke, laughed.

_Harry pulled out his wand. He saw Dudley look sideways at it. _

_'You're not allowed,' Dudley said at once. 'I know you're not. You'd get expelled from that freak school you go to.' _

_'How d'you know they haven't changed the rules, Big D?' _

'_They haven't,' said Dudley, though he didn't sound completely convinced. _

_Harry laughed softly. _

_'You haven't got the guts to take me on without that thing, have you?' Dudley snarled. _

_'Whereas you just need four mates behind you before you can beat up a ten year old. You know that boxing title you keep banging on about? How old was your opponent? Seven? Eight?' _

_'He was sixteen, for your information,' snarled Dudley, 'and he was out cold for twenty minutes after I'd finished with him and he was twice as heavy as you. You just wait till I tell Dad you had that thing out -_

_'Running to Daddy now, are you? Is his ickle boxing champ frightened of nasty Harry's wand?' _

_'Not this brave at night, are you?' sneered Dudley. _

'_This is night, Diddykins. That's what we call it when it goes all dark like this.' _

Laughter echoed around the room.

_'I mean when you're in bed!' Dudley snarled. _

_He had stopped walking. Harry stopped too, staring at his cousin. _

_From the little he could see of Dudley's large face, he was wearing a strangely triumphant look. _

_'What d'you mean, I'm not brave when I'm in bed?' said Harry, completely nonplussed. _

Sirius and James exchanged glances and roared with laughter, Remus snickered and the girls tutted and rolled their eyes.

_'What am I supposed to be frightened of, pillows or something?' _

_'I heard you last night,' said Dudley breathlessly. 'Talking in your sleep. Moaning.' _

_'What d'you mean?' Harry said again, but there was a cold, plunging sensation in his stomach. He had revisited the graveyard last night in his dreams. _

_Dudley gave a harsh bark of laughter, then adopted a high-pitched whimpering voice. _

_'"Don't kill Cedric! Don't kill Cedric!" Who's Cedric - your boyfriend?' _

'My son was never confused!'

_'I - you're lying,' said Harry automatically. But his mouth had gone dry. He knew Dudley wasn't lying - how else would he know about Cedric? _

_'"Dad! Help me, Dad! He's going to kill me, Dad! Boo Hoo!"' _

_'Shut up,' said Harry quietly. 'Shut up, Dudley, I'm warning you!' _

_''Come and help me, Dad! Mum, come and help me! He's killed Cedric! Dad, help me! He's going to -" Don't you point that thing at me!' _

_Dudley backed into the alley wall. Harry was pointing the wand directly at Dudley's heart. Harry could feel fourteen years' hatred of Dudley pounding in his veins - what wouldn't he give to strike now, to jinx Dudley so thoroughly he'd have to crawl home like an insect, struck dumb, sprouting feelers _

_'Don't ever talk about that again,' Harry snarled. 'D'you understand me?' _

_'Point that thing somewhere else!' _

_'I said, do you understand me?' _

_'Point it somewhere else!' _

_'DO YOU UNDERSTAND ME?' _

_'GET THAT THING AWAY FROM -' _

_Dudley gave an odd, shuddering gasp, as though he had been doused in icy water._

Lily stopped reading aloud and her eyes scanned down the page. She continued reluctantly.

_Something had happened to the night. The star-strewn indigo sky was suddenly pitch black and lightless - the stars, the moon, and the misty streetlamps at either end of the alley had vanished. The distant rumble of cars and the whisper of trees had gone. The balmy evening was suddenly piercingly, bitingly cold. They were surrounded by total, impenetrable, silent darkness, as though some giant hand had dropped a thick, icy mantle over the entire alleyway, blinding them. _

_For a split second Harry thought he had done magic without meaning to, despite the fact that he'd been resisting as hard as he could - then his reason caught up with his senses - he didn't have the power to turn off the stars. _

'Well DUH!'

_He turned his head this way and that, trying to see something, but the darkness pressed on his eyes like a weightless veil. _

_Dudley's terrified voice broke in Harry's ear. _

_'W-what are you d-doing? St-stop it!' _

_'I'm not doing anything! Shut up and don't move!' _

_'I c-can't see! I've g-gone blind! I -' _

_'I said shut up!' _

_Harry stood stock still, turning his sightless eyes left and right. The cold was so intense he was shivering all over; goose bumps had erupted up his arms and the hairs on the back of his neck were standing up - he opened his eyes to their fullest extent, staring blankly around, unseeing. _

_It was impossible they couldn't be here not in Little Whinging he strained his ears he would hear them before he saw them _

_'I'll't-tell Dad!' Dudley whimpered. 'W-where are you? What are you d-do?' _

_'Will you shut up?' Harry hissed, 'I'm trying to lis-' _

_But he fell silent. He had heard just the thing he had been dreading. _

_There was something in the alleyway apart from themselves, something that was drawing long, hoarse, rattling breaths. _

The four listeners seemed to know what was coming and their faces darkened.

_Harry felt a horrible jolt of dread as he stood trembling in the freezing air. _

_'C-cut it out! Stop doing it! I'll h-hit you, I swear I will!' _

_'Dudley, shut' _

_WHAM. _

_A fist made contact with the side of Harry's head, lifting him off his feet. Small white lights popped in front of his eyes. For the second time in an hour Harry felt as though his head had been cleaved in two; next moment, he had landed hard on the ground and his wand had flown out of his hand. _

_'You moron, Dudley!' Harry yelled, his eyes watering with pain as he scrambled to his hands and knees, feeling around frantically in the blackness. He heard Dudley blundering away, hitting the alley fence, stumbling. _

_'DUDLEY, COME BACK! YOU'RE RUNNING RIGHT AT IT!' _

_There was a horrible squealing yell and Dudley's footsteps stopped. At the same moment, Harry felt a creeping chill behind him that could mean only one thing. There was more than one_

Everyone gasped and they went deadly quiet, listening on every word that issued from Lily.

_'DUDLEY, KEEP YOUR MOUTH SHUT! WHATEVER YOU DO, KEEP YOUR MOUTH SHUT! Wand!' Harry muttered frantically, his hands flying over the ground like spiders. 'Where's - wand -come on - lumos!' _

_He said the spell automatically, desperate for light to help him in his search - and to his disbelieving relief, light flared inches from his right hand - the wand tip had ignited. Harry snatched it up, scrambled to his feet and turned around. _

_His stomach turned over. _

_A towering, hooded figure was gliding smoothly towards him, hovering over the ground, no feet or face visible beneath its robes, sucking on the night as it came. _

_Stumbling backwards, Harry raised his wand. _

_'Expecto patronum!' _

_A silvery wisp of vapor shot from the tip of the wand and the Dementor slowed, but the spell hadn't worked properly; tripping over his own feet, Harry retreated further as the Dementor bore down upon him, panic fogging his brain - concentrate - _

_A pair of grey, slimy, scabbed hands slid from inside the Dementor's robes, reaching for him. _

'EWWWW'

_A rushing noise filled Harry's ears. _

_'Expecto patronum!' _

_His voice sounded dim and distant. Another wisp of silver smoke, feebler than the last, drifted from the wand - he couldn't do it any more, he couldn't work the spell. _

'RUN!'

_There was laughter inside his own head, shrill, high-pitched laughter he could smell the Dementor's putrid, death-cold breath filling his own lungs, drowning him - think something happy _

_But there was no happiness in him the Dementor's icy fingers were closing on his throat - the high-pitched laughter was growing louder and louder, and a voice spoke inside his head: 'Bow to death, Harry it might even be painless I would not know I have never died " _

_He was never going to see Ron and Hermione again -_

_And their faces burst clearly into his mind as he fought for breath. _

_'EXPECTO PATRONUM!' _

_An enormous silver stag erupted from the tip of Harry's wand;_

'Wow James, your kid has a corpeal Patronus!' Sirius and James stared at Remus blankly. 'It means it takes the form of an animal and is very powerful. It's very weird that the form is a stag'

_Its antlers caught the Dementor in the place where the heart should have been; it was thrown backwards, weightless as darkness, and as the stag charged, the Dementor swooped away, bat-like and defeated. _

_'THIS WAY!' Harry shouted at the stag. Wheeling around, he sprinted down the alleyway, holding the lit wand aloft. 'DUDLEY? DUDLEY!' _

_He had run barely a dozen steps when he reached them: Dudley was curled up on the ground, his arms clamped over his face. A second Dementor was crouching low over him, gripping his wrists in its slimy hands, prising them slowly almost lovingly apart, lowering its hooded head towards Dudley's face as though about to kiss him. _

'Oh my God! I didn't know they could perform kisses on muggles!'

_'GET IT!' Harry bellowed, and with a rushing, roaring sound, the silver stag he had conjured came galloping past him. The Dementor's eyeless face was barely an inch from Dudley's when the silver antlers caught it; the thing was thrown up into the air and, like its fellow, it soared away and was absorbed into the darkness; the stag cantered to the end of the alleyway and dissolved into silver mist. _

_Moon, stars and streetlamps burst back into life. A warm breeze swept the alleyway. Trees rustled in neighboring gardens and the mundane rumble of cars in Magnolia Crescent filled the air again. _

_Harry stood quite still, all his senses vibrating, taking in the abrupt return to normality. After a moment, he became aware that his T-shirt was sticking to him; he was drenched in sweat._

'Like James after Quidditch practice'

_He could not believe what had just happened. Dementors here, in Little Whinging. _

_Dudley lay curled up on the ground, whimpering and shaking. Harry bent down to see whether he was in a fit state to stand up, but then he heard loud, running footsteps behind him. Instinctively raising his wand again, he span on his heel to face the newcomer. _

_Mrs. Figg, their batty old neighbour, came panting into sight. Her grizzled grey hair was escaping from its hairnet, a clanking string shopping bag was swinging from her wrist and her feet were halfway out of her tartan carpet slippers. Harry made to stow his wand hurriedly out of sight, but -_

_'Don't put it away idiot boy!' she shrieked. 'What if there are more of them around? Oh, I'm going to kill Mundungus Fletcher!'_

'And that's the end of the chapter!' said Lily.

'Mundungus Fletcher, where have I heard that name before?'

'He's the one who sold us the enchanted parchment!'

'Oh yeah! So who's reading next?'

* * *

Now because I got so many reviews on my second chapter I'm leaving who reads next up to you! 

Remember what I said!

If the anonymous reviews are disabled you can review on my e-mail which is on my profile page!

HAPPY REVIEWING!


	4. Snapies worst Memory

Hello again,

Thank you all for your reviews! EIGHTEEN!

Okay this is going to take a while!

**Julia** Thanks!

**E.G. Potter** Thank you!

**Stardust** Lol! Thanks for your review!

**Maykwa **He's not my favourite character, but yeah he's okay.

**StarrySkies14789** Yeah! That's a god Idea! But I'm going to have James reading next and combine it with an idea from another reviewer!

**FuNnY cIdE** I will do! Thanks for the vote.

**Missprongs07** Okay! Is this soon enough?

**Not so sour lemons** Yes you're right. Sorry I forgot to add it in but she is like Sirius and her family's black sheep. Oh and she's adopted so she's only a Malfoy by name.

**Wand Claw** Thank you! You're positively darling too!

**Me** Okay! Thanks for reviewing.

**RavensWritingProphecies** Yes I agree it is very slow, but the reason I picked this story, rather than the Prisoner of Azkaban, is because it has more memories and a death of a Marauder in it. Yes I'm combining your idea into this chapter.

**AzureStar **Yes Thanks and you're cool for reviewing!

**Not an Adult** I meant to type b-u-t-t but didn't for some reason!

**Kelsey and James Dean** I'm going to do most of it and that comes into play when James starts to read.

**Julia** Thanks! That's one of my favourite lines too!

**Kgk89** Yes, I like these clichés too! Thanks!

**QuidditchQueen277** Oh well it's not your fault! Thanks for reviewing!

**Gogglehead Lover** Yes, I tried to make it different from other Marauders read a Harry Potter book stories. James is defensive of Harry and Lily just makes comments about how he's treated in life. That will change once they find out who the parents are.

**Roseanna** Okay thanks! I'm putting an ad in this for a beta reader, yes I'm using English grammar and it's slightly different. Good look with your book!

**Esther** I' glad you like it!

**-x-Peaches and Cream-x-** Yes she'll read in the next chapter or two!

**Remus'Fiance **Yes, I seem to have left my Karaoke fic but will be posting the next chapter soon, as well as my sixth year fic. Thanks!

**Amac **Yes, I've been thinking that too. Thank god this chapter has more action. Thanks for the advice!

**Froggygrl101 **Thanks! Glad you like it!

**2 lazy 2 log in **Okay!

**Sarah **Thank you!

Phew! Anyway on with the story!

_

* * *

Chapter 4_

'I do, I do,' screeched James like a two year old. He snatched the book off Lily and looked at the second chapter.

'Boring,' he whined. 'Let's see what the chapter titles are! Hmm, _the Advanced Guard, Number twelve Grimmauld Place,'_ Sirius gasped._ ' Luna Lovegood, the Sorting Hat's New Song_' He flipped over about two hundred pages, stopped and looked at the chapter title. With a malicious glint in his eye he said, '_Snivellus' Worst Memory_.' Sirius started grinning too and James started to read skipping the parts he thought were not essential.

_He took a great gulp of breath, and plunged his face into the surface of Snape's thoughts._

'Yuck! He'll get all greasy'

_At once, the floor of the office lurched, tipping Harry head-first into the Pensieve_

_He was falling through cold blackness, spinning furiously as he went, and then -_

_He was standing in the middle of the Great Hall, but the four house tables were gone. Instead, there were more than a hundred smaller tables, all facing the same way, at each of which sat a student, head bent low, scribbling on a roll of parchment. _

'Our OWL's!' gasped the girls.

_The only sound was the scratching of quills and the occasional rustle as somebody adjusted their parchment. It was clearly exam time._

_Sunshine was streaming through the high windows on to the bent heads, which shone chestnut and copper and gold in the bright light. _

'Oooooh'

_Harry looked around carefully. Snape had to be here somewhere this was his memory_

'And that means we're there too'

_And there he was, at a table right behind Harry. Harry stared. Snape-the-teenager had a stringy, pallid look about him, like a plant kept in the dark._

Everyone in the room laughed.

_His hair was lank and greasy and was flopping on to the table, his hooked nose barely half an inch from the surface of the parchment as he scribbled. Harry moved around behind Snape and read the heading of the examination paper: DEFENCE AGAINST THE DARK ARTS - ORDINARY WIZARDING LEVEL._

James interrupted his own reading of the story to say, 'I aced that exam!'

_So Snape had to be fifteen or sixteen, around Harry's own age. His hand was flying across the parchment; he had written at least a foot more than his closest neighbours, and yet his writing was minuscule and cramped._

_'Five more minutes!'_

_The voice made Harry jump. Turning, he saw the top of Professor Flitwick's head moving between the desks a short distance away. Professor Flitwick was walking past a boy with untidy black hair very untidy black hair_

'Prongs!

_Harry moved so quickly that, had he been solid, he would have knocked desks flying. Instead he seemed to slide, dreamlike, across two aisles and up a third. The back of the black-haired boy's head drew nearer and he was straightening up now, putting down his quill, pulling his roll of parchment towards him so as to reread what he had written_

_Harry stopped in front of the desk and gazed down at his fifteen-year-old father._

'He is my son!' he had interrupted himself again.

_Excitement exploded in the pit of his stomach: it was as though he was looking at himself but with deliberate mistakes. James's eyes were hazel, his nose was slightly longer than Harry's and there was no scar on his forehead, but they had the same thin face, same mouth, same eyebrows;_

Yet again James spoke not reading the book, 'That automatically means he's super handsome!'

_James's hair stuck up at the back exactly as Harry's did, his hands could have been Harry's and Harry could tell that, when James stood up, they would be within an inch of each other in height._

_James yawned hugely and rumpled up his hair, making it even messier than it had been. _

At this Lily rolled her eyes.

_Then, with a glance towards Professor Flitwick, he turned in his seat and grinned at a boy sitting four seats behind him._

_With another shock of excitement, Harry saw Sirius give James the thumbs-up. Sirius was lounging in his chair at his ease, tilting it back on two legs. He was very good-looking;_

This time it was Sirius who interrupted, 'Well, duh, of course I was good-looking

_his dark hair fell into his eyes with a sort of casual elegance neither James's nor Harry's could ever have achieved,_

'Too right!'

_And a girl sitting behind him was eyeing him hopefully, though he didn't seem to have noticed. And two seats along from this girl - Harry's stomach gave another pleasurable squirm - was Remus Lupin._

'Moony!'

_He looked rather pale and peaky (was the full moon approaching?)_

Sirius, Remus and James gasped. Lily, who already knew, was trying to calm Serena down. She looked at Remus with sadness, _the things he must go through!_ After a few minutes James continued reading.

_And was absorbed in the exam: as he reread his answers, he scratched his chin with the end of his quill, frowning slightly_

'You're _always_ doing that Moony!'

_So that meant Wormtail had to be around here somewhere,_

'Yay! Petey's here too!'

_Too and sure enough, Harry spotted him within seconds: a small, mousy-haired boy with a pointed nose._

'He's never changed has he?' asked Remus.

_Wormtail looked anxious; he was chewing his fingernails, staring down at his paper, scuffing the ground with his toes. _

'That was annoying. I was trying to check my answers and he was making noise!'

_Every now and then he glanced hopefully at his neighbour's paper. Harry stared at Wormtail for a moment, then back at James, who was now doodling on a bit of scrap parchment. He had drawn a Snitch and was now tracing the letters 'L.E.'. What did they stand for?_

Lily's eyes widened and she raised her voice, 'Potter! What do you think you were playing at?' James didn't appear to have heard and he continued reading.

_'Quills down, please!' squeaked Professor Flitwick. That means you too, Stebbins! Please remain seated while I collect your parchment! Accio!'_

_Over a hundred rolls of parchment zoomed into the air and into Professor Flitwick's outstretched arms, knocking him backwards off his feet. _

The students sniggered.

_Several people laughed. A couple of students at the front desks got up, took hold of Professor Flitwick beneath the elbows and lifted him back on to his feet._

'Teachers pets'

'_Thank you thank you,' panted Professor Flitwick. 'Very well, everybody, you're free to go!'_

'You don't think…' said Remus who looked to Sirius and James. They shook their heads.

_Harry looked down at his father, who had hastily crossed out the 'L.E.' he had been embellishing, jumped to his feet, stuffed his quill and the exam paper into his bag, which he slung over his back, and stood waiting for Sirius to join him._

'Yes because I'm just so darn irresistible!'

_Harry looked around and glimpsed Snape a short way away, moving between the tables towards the doors to the Entrance Hall, still absorbed in his own exam paper. Round-shouldered yet angular, he walked in a twitchy manner that recalled a spider, and his oily hair was jumping about his face._

'He's very interested in people's appearances isn't he?'

_A gang of chattering girls separated Snape from James, Sirius and Lupin, and by planting himself in their midst, Harry managed to keep Snape in sight while straining his ears to catch the voices of James and his friends._

'Not to mention nosy!'

_'Did you like question ten, Moony?' asked Sirius as they emerged into the Entrance Hall._

_'Loved it,' said Lupin briskly. 'Give five signs that identify the werewolf. Excellent question!'_

_'D'you think you managed to get all the signs?' said James in tones of mock concern._

The Marauders smiled thoughtfully.

'_Think I did,' said Lupin seriously, as they joined the crowd thronging around the front doors eager to get out into the sunlit grounds. 'One: he's sitting on my chair. Two: he's wearing my clothes. Three: his name's Remus Lupin.'_

Everyone laughed.

_Wormtail was the only one who didn't laugh._

Everyone laughed again.

_'I got the snout shape, the pupils of the eyes and the tufted tail,' he said anxiously, 'but I couldn't think what else -'_

_'How thick are you, Wormtail?' said James impatiently. 'You run round with a werewolf once a month -'_

Lily and Serena both raised their eyes in suspicion, but said nothing.

_'Keep your voice down,' implored Lupin._

_Harry looked anxiously behind him again. Snape remained close by, still buried in his exam questions - but this was Snape's memory and Harry was sure that if Snape chose to wander off in a different direction once outside in the grounds, he, Harry, would not be able to follow James any further._

'Oh yes he would!'

_To his intense relief, however, when James and his three friends strode off down the lawn towards the lake, Snape followed, still poring over the exam paper and apparently with no fixed idea of where he was going. By keeping a little ahead of him, Harry managed to maintain a close watch on James and the others._

'The little bugger is spying on us!'

_'Well, I thought that paper was a piece of cake,' he heard Sirius say. Til be surprised if I don't get "Outstanding" on it at least.'_

The girls groaned.

_'Me too,' said James. He put his hand in his pocket and took out a struggling Golden Snitch._

_'Where'd you get that?'_

_'Nicked it,' said James casually. _

The Marauders laughed.

_He started playing with the Snitch, allowing it to fly as much as a foot away before seizing it again; his reflexes were excellent. Wormtail watched him in awe._

Sniggers issued from them.

_They stopped in the shade of the very same beech tree on the edge of the lake where Harry, Ron and Hermione had once spent a Sunday finishing their homework, and threw themselves down on the grass._

'Cool, you have the same taste in lounging spots!'

_Harry looked over his shoulder yet again and saw, to his delight, that Snape had settled himself on the grass in the dense shadow of a clump of bushes. He was as deeply immersed in the OWL paper as ever, which left Harry free to sit down on the grass between the beech and the bushes and watch the foursome under the tree. _

James and Sirius promptly started laughed, but regained their composer when Remus said, 'You _do_ know he means us!'

_The sunlight was dazzling on the smooth surface of the lake, on the bank of which the group of laughing girls who had just left the Great Hall were sitting, with their shoes and socks off, cooling their feet in the water._

Lily and Serena sighed as they remembered cooling off by the lake.

_Lupin had pulled out a book and was reading. Sirius stared around at the students milling over the grass, looking rather haughty and bored, but very handsomely so._

'Prongs, your son has very good taste in men!'

'Black, this book in written by a _woman_, though I don't know _how_ in Gods name she should find _you_ attractive!'

_James was still playing with the Snitch, letting it zoom further and further away, almost escaping but always grabbed at the last second. Wormtail was watching him with his mouth open. Every time James made a particularly difficult catch, Wormtail gasped and applauded. _

The girls rolled their eyes.

_After five minutes of this, Harry wondered why James didn't tell Wormtail to get a grip on himself, but James seemed to be enjoying the attention._

'No duh!'

_Harry noticed that his father had a habit of rumpling up his hair as though to keep it from getting too tidy, and he also kept looking over at the girls by the water's edge._

'Because a certain redhead was over there,' added Sirius airily.

'_Put that away, will you,' said Sirius finally, as James made a fine catch and Wormtail let out a cheer, 'before Wormtail wets himself with excitement.'_

Everyone in the room laughed.

_Wormtail turned slightly pink, but James grinned._

_'If it bothers you,' he said, stuffing the Snitch back in his pocket. Harry had the distinct impression that Sirius was the only one for whom James would have stopped showing off._

'Yes I'm the only one that has control over Prongs!'

_'I'm bored,' said Sirius. 'Wish it was full moon.'_

_'You might,' said Lupin darkly from behind his book. 'We've still got Transfiguration, if you're bored you could test me. Here" and he held out his book._

_But Sirius snorted. 'I don't need to look at that rubbish, I know it all.'_

'I only wish I could remember it now!'

'_This'll liven you up, Padfoot,' said James quietly. 'Look who it is'_

'Oh-no'

_Sirius's head turned. He became very still, like a dog that has scented a rabbit._

'I wonder why?'

_'Excellent,' he said softly. 'Snivellus.'_

Lily shook her head.

_Harry turned to see what Sirius was looking at._

_Snape was on his feet again, and was stowing the OWL paper in his bag. As he left the shadows of the bushes and set off across the grass, Sirius and James stood up._

'Oh no, I can remember this!'

_Lupin and Wormtail remained sitting: Lupin was still staring down at his book, though his eyes were not moving and a faint frown line had appeared between his eyebrows; Wormtail was looking from Sirius and James to Snape with a look of avid anticipation on his face._

_'All right, Snivellus?' said James loudly._

'Why do you call him that?' asked Serena The others shrugged.

_Snape reacted so fast it was as though he had been expecting an attack: dropping his bag, he plunged his hand inside his robes and his wand was halfway into the air when James shouted, 'Expelliarmus!'_

'Oh-no' said Lily again.

_Snape's wand flew twelve feet into the air and fell with a little thud in the grass behind him. Sirius let out a bark of laughter._

In the room, Sirius promptly let out a bark of laughter.

_'Impedimenta!' he said, pointing his wand at Snape, who was knocked off his feet halfway through a dive towards his own fallen wand._

_Students all around had turned to watch. Some of them had got to their feet and were edging nearer. Some looked apprehensive, others entertained._

_Snape lay panting on the ground. James and Sirius advanced on him, wands raised, James glancing over his shoulder at the girls at the water's edge as he went. _

'Because Lily was over there!' Lily threw a pillow at Sirius.

_Wormtail was on his feet now, watching hungrily, edging around Lupin to get a clearer view._

_'How'd the exam go, Snivelly?' said James._

_'I was watching him, his nose was touching the parchment,' said Sirius viciously. 'There'll be great grease marks all over it, they won't be able to read a word.'_

James and Sirius laughed.

_Several people watching laughed; Snape was clearly unpopular. Wormtail sniggered shrilly. Snape was trying to get up, but the jinx was still operating on him; he was struggling, as though bound by invisible ropes._

_'You - wait,' he panted, staring up at James with an expression of purest loathing, 'you - wait!'_

_'Wait for what?' said Sirius coolly. 'What're you going to do, Snivelly, wipe your nose on us?'_

This time Remus joined in the laughing.

_Snape let out a stream of mixed swear words and hexes, but with his wand ten feet away nothing happened._

_'Wash out your mouth,' said James coldly. 'Scourgify!'_

Everyone laughed, the boys were slightly louder.

_Pink soap bubbles streamed from Snape's mouth at once; the froth was covering his lips, making him gag, choking him -_

_'Leave him ALONE!'_

'Enter Miss Lily Evans.'

_James and Sirius looked round. James's free hand immediately jumped to his hair._

Sirius and Remus laughed as James blushed.

_It was one of the girls from the lake edge. She had thick, dark red hair that fell to her shoulders, and startlingly green almond-shaped eyes - Harry's eyes._

James paused to look at the reaction from Lily. She looked up as though she had heard wrong.

_Harry's mother._

'No,' she whispered. 'No I won't believe it!' She said more firmly.

_'All right, Evans?' said James, and the tone of his voice was suddenly pleasant, deeper, more mature._

_'Leave him alone,' Lily repeated. She was looking at James with every sign of great dislike. 'What's he done to you?'_

_How I could ever get together with that prat I can't understand,_ she thought.

_'Well,' said James, appearing to deliberate the point, 'it's more the fact that he exists, if you know what I mean'_

Sirius laughed on his own but stopped looking for support from James, who was looking ashamed.

_Many of the surrounding students laughed, Sirius and Wormtail included, but Lupin, still apparently intent on his book, didn't, and nor did Lily._

_'You think you're funny,' she said coldly. 'But you're just an arrogant, bullying toe rag, Potter. Leave him alone.'_

_'I will if you go out with me, Evans,' said James quickly. 'Go on go out with me and I'll never lay a wand on old Snivelly again.'_

'Yeah right!'

_Behind him, the Impediment Jinx was wearing off. Snape was beginning to inch towards his fallen wand, spitting out soapsuds as he crawled._

The Marauders laughed at the memory.

_'I wouldn't go out with you if it was a choice between you and the giant squid,' said Lily._

_'Bad luck, Prongs,' said Sirius briskly, and turned back to Snape. 'OI!'_

_But too late; Snape had directed his wand straight at James; there was a flash of light and a gash appeared on the side of James's face,_

'That hurt by the way!'

_Spattering his robes with blood. James whirled about: a second flash of light later, Snape was hanging upside-down in the air, his robes falling over his head to reveal skinny, pallid legs and a pair of greying underpants._

'Ewwwwwww'

_Many people in the small crowd cheered; Sirius, James and Wormtail roared with laughter._

_Lily, whose furious expression had twitched for an instant as though she was going to smile,_

'But she didn't'

_Said, 'Let him down!'_

_'Certainly,' said James and he jerked his wand upwards; Snape fell into a crumpled heap on the ground. Disentangling himself from his robes he got quickly to his feet, wand up, but Sirius said, 'Petrificus Totalus!' and Snape keeled over again, rigid as a board._

'What gets me is why he didn't pull up his pants when he had the chance.'

_'LEAVE HIM ALONE!' Lily shouted. She had her own wand out now. James and Sirius eyed it warily._

'Too bloody right. Did you ever get one of her hexes?'

_'Ah, Evans, don't make me hex you,' said James earnestly._

'_Take the curse off him, then!'_

_James sighed deeply, then turned to Snape and muttered the counter-curse._

'Because he'd do anything for his dearest Lily Flower!'

'_There you go,' he said, as Snape struggled to his feet. 'You're lucky Evans was here, Snivellus '_

_'I don't need help from filthy little Mudbloods like her!'_

'That ungrateful git!'

_Lily blinked._

_'Fine,' she said coolly. 'I won't bother in future. And I'd wash your pants if I were you, Snivellus.'_

'Lily why did you use the name?'

_'Apologise to Evans!' James roared at Snape, his wand pointed threateningly at him._

_'I don't want you to make him apologise,' Lily shouted, rounding on James. 'You're as bad as he is.'_

_'What?' yelped James. I'd NEVER call you a - you-know-what!'_

_'Messing up your hair because you think it looks cool to look like you've just got off your broomstick,_

Lily who remember, word for word, what she had said ticked them off on her fingers.

_Showing off with that stupid Snitch, walking down corridors and hexing anyone who annoys you just because you can - I'm surprised your broomstick can get off the ground with that fat head on it. You make me SICK.'_

_She turned on her heel and hurried away._

_'Evans!' James shouted after her. 'Hey, EVANS!'_

_But she didn't look back._

_'What is it with her?' said James, trying and failing to look as though this was a throwaway question of no real importance to him._

'But it was because he loved her with all his heart,' added Sirius dramatically.

_'Reading between the lines, I'd say she thinks you're a bit conceited, mate,' said Sirius._

'Naw, yeh think? '

_'Right,' said James, who looked furious now, 'right -'_

_There was another flash of light, and Snape was once again hanging upside-down in the air._

_'Who wants to see me take off Snivelly's pants?'_

Lily and Serena both had grabbed pillows and stuck their heads in them.

_But whether James really did take off Snapes pants, Harry never found out. _

'And he didn't want to either!'

_A hand had closed tight over his upper arm, closed with a pincer-like grip. Wincing, Harry looked round to see who had hold of him, and saw, with a thrill of horror, a fully grown, adult-sized Snape standing right beside him, white with rage._

'Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh'

_'Having fun?'_

_Harry felt himself rising into the air; the summer's day evaporated around him; he was floating upwards through icy blackness, Snape's hand still tight upon his upper arm. Then, with a swooping feeling as though he had turned head-over-heels in midair, his feet hit the stone floor of Snape's dungeon and he was standing again beside the Pensieve on Snape's desk in the shadowy, present-day Potion masters study._

'Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh'

'SHUT UP SIRIUS!'

_'So,' said Snape, gripping Harry's arm so tightly Harry's hand was starting to feel numb. 'So been enjoying yourself, Potter?'_

_'N-no,' said Harry, trying to free his arm._

'Leave hi go you slimy git!'

_It was scary: Snape's lips were shaking, his face was white, his teeth were bared._

'Ahh-' Three pillows were thrown at Sirius.

_'Amusing man, your father, wasn't he?' said Snape, shaking Harry so hard his glasses slipped down his nose._

_'I - didn't -'_

_Snape threw Harry from him with all his might. Harry fell hard on to the dungeon floor. _

'CHILD ABUSE!'

_'You will not repeat what you saw to anybody!' Snape bellowed._

_'No,' said Harry, getting to his feet as far from Snape as he could._

'God knows what he could do to him! The slimy Slytherin!'

_'No, of course I w'_

_'Get out, get out, I don't want to see you in this office ever again!'_

'And he doesn't want to go into the office again!'

_And as Harry hurtled towards the door, a jar of dead cockroaches exploded over his head. He wrenched the door open and flew along the corridor, stopping only when he had put three floors between himself and Snape. There he leaned against the wall, panting, and rubbing his bruised arm._

'He left a mark! When I get back to school I'll-' Sirius was ambushed by pillows again.

_He had no desire at all to return to Gryffindor Tower so early, nor to tell Ron and Hermione what he had just seen. What was making Harry feel so horrified and unhappy was not being shouted at or having jars thrown at him; it was that he knew how it felt to be humiliated in the middle of a circle of onlookers,_

'Why would the son of a Marauder know what it's like to be humiliated? It's not right!'

_knew exactly how Snape had felt as his father had taunted him, and that judging from what he had just seen, his father had been every bit as arrogant as Snape had always told him._

'No! That slimy git has turned my own son against me! My own son sympathizes with him'

James and Sirius did an overly dramatized scene, earning glares from the others.

* * *

Okay another Chapter done and dusted! 

Do tell what you think!

Okay Now I'm asking for a Beta! This is the first ever time I've asked for one so If you please want to beta this story send an e-mail to my yahoo address on my profile page!

Review!


	5. Professor Moony

Hello my pretties! Sorry for the long wait but the power went in our whole village!

Okay a few notices!

Seeing as the replies to the reviewers last time took up two pages, I will be replying to questions only and thanking others in a group!

Secondly, I would like to thank Maykwa, who has agreed to be my beta! This means so much and I can't thank you enough.

Now for the reviewers;

Thanks to Missprongs07, FuNnY cIdE, phoenixtear19, Miss-X-Moony, Gogglehead Lover, RavensWritingProphecies, StarrySkies14789, -x-Peaches n Cream-x-, Sarah, Remus'Fiance and amac.

**Gogglehead Lover** Sirius and James thought they (Lily and James) were the parents, Lily just wouldn't believe it.

**StarrySkies14789 **People like James, or rather impatient people want to know what's going to happen, my brother does it all the time, but I just look at the chapter titles. James just wanted to know who were Harry's parents and find out if he was right.

Okay,

_

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Chapter 5_

After the boys were finished showing off, Lily had an idea.

'What if one of us reads a chapter each and then gives the others a summary of the chapter, but if we find anything particularly interesting or weird we can read it out?' The others nodded in agreement and James gave her a fond smile, which, surprisingly, she returned.

Remus offered to read and Sirius and James went down to get more snacks. Remus started off on chapter two and was nearly finished when the two other boys came back. He read surprisingly fast and by the time everyone had a snack he had finished. Once he grabbed a Butterbeer he started to tell them, 'Okay, basically Mrs Figg, Harry's batty old neighbour who is revealed to be a squib, came over started talking about Dung and escorted the two boys home. The met Dung before they got home and he said something 'bout cauldrons then she started hitting him. When Harry and Dudley got home Dudley got sick and the Dursley blamed Harry,' pausing Remus took a swig of his drink. 'Harry got a letter saying he got expelled.'

'What!'

'He then got another from Arthur Weasley telling him not to give up his wand, and then he got another from the Ministry saying he had to attend a hearing in August. Petunia knew about Dementors, she said that she overheard you telling Lily,' he said this to James. Then he tried to say something, but found it rather difficult, 'Then, Harry he- he said that, you and L-Lily were m-murdered by V-Voldemort. Then Dursley said a giant bloke told them he was gone and Harry said that he had returned.'

'Did they give him a name, this giant?' asked Serena.

Remus shook his head, 'No, but I presume they mean Hagrid. Apparently Voldemort came back one month prior to Harry's birthday and Harry saw him. Then the Dursleys try to throw him out, Petunia gets a howler saying "Remember my last", and she says he has to stay. Harry tries to ask questions but he was sent to his room. All in all nothing much _really_ happens.'

'So what information do we have so far?' asked Sirius. 'Other than Lily and Prongs getting it together.' Lily ignored this and answered his question.

'Well Voldemort was defeated, by who we don't know yet, he came back one month ago and Harry was there, why he was there we don't know.' She paused for a moment, as if arguing with herself mentally. 'What if- what if _Harry_ defeated Voldemort, I know it's stupid but well that would explain the situation, wouldn't it?'

Everyone nodded but James, who said, 'But why did we die? I mean, how could he survive, he's only fifteen!'

Lily asked for the book off Remus and when she got it she looked at the second page.

'It seems that there are four books before this one, and coincidently they're all about Harry. They're Harry Potter and the Philosophers Stone, the Chamber of Secrets, the Prisoner of Azkaban, the Goblet of Fire and then this one.'

'Isn't the Goblet of Fire the thing they use for the Triwizard Tournaments?' asked James.

'Yeah, and the Chamber of Secrets is a legend about Hogwarts!' said Sirius. He then asked, 'Do you think Harry found it?'

'Nah. I mean, it's next to impossible; _we_ haven't even found it!' answered James simply.

'Didn't some guy named Flamel invent the Philosophers Stone?' asked Serena.

'Yeah, we learned about it in Potions last year,' said Lily. 'Who's reading the next chapter?'

'I will. That is, if no-one else wants to,' said Serena and Lily handed her the book. She began reading silently and everyone else just talked. Lily listened as the boys talked about Quidditch.

'Well personally I think the Cannons will win this year. I mean, the Harpies' seeker is still in a coma from that attack in their fifth match, but the Wasps have a fairly good chance too!'

'Yes, but the Cannons have more experienced players. The Harpies have a lot of new people.' Sirius and James continued like this until Serena called them over.

'Hey listen to this, okay basically Harry's been in his room since the howler incident, he's sent three letters telling people about it and Dursley comes up to his room,' she cleared her throat and started to read aloud from the book.

_On the fourth night after Hedwig's departure Harry was lying in one of his apathetic phases- _

'Prongs has those'

_- staring at the ceiling, his exhausted mind quite blank, when his uncle entered his bedroom. Harry looked slowly around at him. Uncle Vernon was wearing his best suit and an expression of enormous smugness. _

_'We're going out,' he said. _

_'Sorry?' _

_'We - that is to say, your aunt, Dudley and I - are going out.'_

'Well he doesn't want to go with you,' answered James.

_'Fine,' said Harry dully, looking back at the ceiling. _

_'You are not to leave your bedroom while we are away.'_

_'OK.'_

_'You are not to touch the television, the stereo, or any of our possessions.'_

_'Right.'_

_'You are not to steal food from the fridge.' _

_'OK.'_

_'I am going to lock your door.'_

_'You do that.' _

'He seems depressed!'

_'Uncle Vernon glared at Harry, clearly suspicious of this lack of argument, then stomped out of the room and closed the door behind him. Harry heard the key turn in the lock and Uncle Vernon's footsteps walking heavily down the stairs. A few minutes later he heard the slamming of car doors, the rumble of an engine, and the unmistakable sound of the car sweeping out of the drive.'_

'Hey didn't we work on them in Muggle studies?' asked Sirius, as Serena read quietly to herself.

'More like you and James blew it up,' answered Lily. Sirius was about to say something again when Serena let out a gasp, 'Oh my god!' she said.

Sirius turned to her, 'Oh your God what?'

'Mad-eye Moody! But Harry calls him Professor Moody! He thought there were burglars downstairs when he heard a crash and went out to investigate.'

'When will people learn? You don't go out to check, you stay where you are and hide! Go on read it out.'

Serena nodded,

'_His heart shot upwards into his throat. There were people standing in the shadowy hall below, silhouetted against the streetlight glowing through the glass door; eight or nine of them, all, as far as he could see, looking up at him. _

_'Lower your wand, boy, before you take someone's eye out,' said a low, growling voice. _

'Yes, that's definitely Moody!'

_Harry's heart was thumping uncontrollably. He knew that voice, but he did not lower his wand. _

_'Professor Moody?' he said uncertainly. _

'He probably taught him!'

_'I don't know so much about "Professor",' growled the voice, 'never got round to much teaching, did I? Get down here, we want to see you properly.' _

_Harry lowered his wand slightly but did not relax his grip on it, nor did he move. He had very good reason to be suspicious. _

'And it sounds as though he rubbed off on him'

_He had recently spent nine months in what he had thought was Mad-Eye Moody's company only to find out that it wasn't Moody at all, but an impostor; an impostor, moreover, who had tried to kill Harry before being unmasked. _

'Oh my god! Wow, he's been threatened with murder!'

'What's so special about that? You give me a death threat every day, Lily-kins'

_But before he could make a decision about what to do next, a second, slightly hoarse voice floated upstairs. _

_'It's all right, Harry. We've come to take you away.' _

_Harry's heart leapt. He knew that voice, too, though he hadn't heard it for over a year. _

_'P-Professor Lupin?'-_

'MOONY!'

_- he said disbelievingly. 'Is that you?' _

_'Why are we all standing in the dark?' said a third voice, this one completely unfamiliar, a woman's. 'Lumos.' _

_A wand-tip flared, illuminating the hall with magical light. Harry blinked. The people below were crowded around the foot of the stairs, gazing up at him intently, some craning their heads for a better look. _

'What is this, a zoo?'

_Remus Lupin stood nearest to him. Though still quite young, Lupin looked tired and rather ill; he had more grey hairs than-_

'Oh Remy, your _aging_! I bet I still have no grey hairs! '

' _- when Harry had last said goodbye to him and his robes were more patched and shabbier than ever. Nevertheless, he was smiling broadly at Harry, who tried to smile back despite his state of shock. _

_'Oooh, he looks just like I thought he would,' said the witch who was holding her lit wand aloft. She looked the youngest there; she had a pale heart-shaped face, dark twinkling eyes, and short spiky hair that was a violent shade of violet. 'Wotcher, Harry!'_

'She sounds a bit like my second cousin, Andromeda's daughter. I think Nymphadora's her name. She's about six months old.'

_'Yeah, I see what you mean, Remus,' said a bald black wizard standing furthest back - he had a deep, slow voice and wore a single gold hoop in his ear - 'he looks exactly like James.'_

'Yes, extremely good looking!'

_'Except the eyes,' said a wheezy-voiced, silver-haired wizard at the back. 'Lily's eyes.'_

'Yes, Lily's beautiful emerald eyes!'

_Mad-Eye Moody, who had long grizzled grey hair and a large chunk missing from his nose, was squinting suspiciously at Harry through his mismatched eyes. One eye was small, dark and beady, the other large, round and electric blue - the magical eye that could see through walls, doors and the back of Moody's own head. 'Are you quite sure it's him, Lupin?' he growled. 'It'd be a nice lookout if we bring back some Death Eater impersonating him. We ought to ask him something only the real Potter would know. Unless anyone brought any Veritaserum?' _

'God, he's very vigilant, isn't he?'

_'Harry, what form does your Patronus take?' Lupin asked. 'A stag,' said Harry nervously. 'That's him, Mad-Eye,' said Lupin. _

_Very conscious of everybody still staring at him, Harry descended the stairs, stowing his wand in the back pocket of his jeans as he came. _

_'Don't put your wand there, boy!' roared Moody. 'What if it ignited? Better wizards than you have lost buttocks, you know!' _

Everyone laughed.

_'Who d'you know who's lost a buttock?' the violet-haired woman asked Mad-Eye interestedly. _

'I've heard rumors that Moody did actually'

_'Never you mind, you just keep your wand out of your back pocket!' growled Mad-Eye. 'Elementary wand-safety, nobody bothers about it any more.' He stumped off towards the kitchen. 'And I saw that,' he added irritably, as the woman rolled her eyes towards the ceiling. _

There was a soft titter around the room.

_Lupin held out his hand and shook Harry's. 'How are you?' he asked, looking closely at Harry. 'T-fine' _

'Why'd he say t-fine?'

'He probable went to say terrible.'

_Harry could hardly believe this was real. Four weeks with nothing, not the tiniest hint of a plan to remove him from Privet Drive, and suddenly a whole bunch of wizards was standing matter-of-factly in the house as though this was a long-standing arrangement. He glanced at the people surrounding Lupin; they were still gazing avidly at him. He felt very conscious of the fact that he had not combed his hair for four days._

'Like it'd make a difference.'

_'I'm - you're really lucky the Dursleys are out,' he mumbled. _

_'Lucky, ha!' said the violet-haired woman. 'It was me who lured them out of the way. Sent a letter by Muggle post telling them they'd been short-listed for the All-England Best Kept Suburban Lawn Competition. They're heading off to the prize-giving right now, or they think they are.' _

The listeners laughed.

_Harry had a fleeting vision of Uncle Vernon's face when he realised there was no All-England Best Kept Suburban Lawn Competition. _

_'We are leaving, aren't we?' he asked. 'Soon?' _

'_Almost at once,' said Lupin, _

'Why not at once?'

_'- we're just waiting for the all-clear.' _

'Oh.'

_'Where are we going? The Burrow?' Harry asked hopefully. _

_'Not The Burrow, no,' said Lupin, motioning Harry towards the kitchen; the little knot of wizards followed, all still eyeing Harry curiously. 'Too risky. We've set up Headquarters somewhere un-detectable. It's taken a while' _

_Mad-Eye Moody was now sitting at the kitchen table swigging from a hip flask, his magical eye spinning in all directions,_

'It's freaky when he does that!'

_- taking in the Dursleys' many labour-saving appliances. _

_'This is Alastor Moody, Harry' Lupin continued, pointing towards Moody. _

_'Yeah, I know,' said Harry uncomfortably. It felt odd to be introduced to somebody he'd thought he'd known for a year. _

_'And this is Nymphadora -'_

_'Don't call me Nymphadora, Remus,' said the young witch with a shudder, 'it's Tonks.' _

'Yes that's my cousin, poor girl she's going to be tortured with a name like that!'

_'Nymphadora Tonks, who prefers to be known by her surname only,' finished Lupin. _

_'So would you if your fool of a mother had called you Nymphadora,' muttered Tonks._

Everyone had laughed after hearing this.

_'And this is Kingsley Shacklebolt.' He indicated the tall black wizard, who bowed._

'Yes, I've met him before, he's in dad's Junior Auror group, dad teaches him'

_'Elphias Doge.' The wheezy-voiced wizard nodded. 'Dedalus Diggle -' _

_'We've met before,' squeaked the excitable Diggle, dropping his violet-coloured top hat._

'Don't wet yourself!'

_'Emmeline Vance.' A stately-looking witch in an emerald green shawl inclined her head._

'Yes,' said Sirius. 'She's quite a looker!'

_'Sturgis Podmore.' A square-jawed wizard with thick straw-coloured hair winked. 'And Hestia Jones.' A pink-cheeked, black-haired witch waved from next to the toaster_.

'Mmm, so is she'

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Okay tell me what you think! 


	6. Truth or Dare, With a Twist

Okay my pretties! I'm back, second year sucks!

So many test and bloody teachers! _AND_ a four mile annual walk!

Sorry this took so long and it's short but it's vital so I'll post the seventh chapter when I get more than a handful of reviews!

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Thanks to: Gogglehead Lover, phoenixtear19, missprongs07, quidditchqueen277, irishdancerfromroi, FuNnY cIdE, Esther, Julia, Miss-x-Moony, Sirius black and remy, Nimrodel Telcontar, RavensWritingProphecies, xxooEriklovesChristinexxoo, siarah, siarah, Julia, pegoheart144 thanks for all your reviews! There were seventeen altogether! 

I'll leave you with chapter six; I hope you'll like it! I'm sad at the moment and it partly has to do with the Luna Lovegood auditions! But you'll want to get on reading so I'll stop with the nonsense bladder!

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It was getting dark outside and Remus had to be home quite early. They said their goodbyes and then there were four in the room. James and Sirius went off to get dressed and Lily and Serena locked the door. 

Taking out their pajamas they got dressed while talking.

'So, Lils,' said Serena. 'What do you think?'

'Think of _what_?' replied the redhead.

'Oh, you know this Harry character, _you_ and _James_ hooking up, Sirius as the escaped convicted, _you_ hooking up with _James_, Remus and Mad-Eye teaching, and _James_ and _you_,' she said airily.

Lily just rolled her eyes, 'Okay, I get the point. It's a bit of a shock but I always knew Remus was smart.' Serena gave her a look. 'Oh alright! Yes it's a surprise that me and James-'

'_James and I_'

'James and I will, supposedly, get together. I mean we hated each other!'

'Correction, Lils, _you_ hated _him_! And what's this "_hated_" crap? Do you mean to tell me that you

_don't_ hate him?'

'Well…I suppose, I mean he _is_, after all, growing up _a bit_, and he didn't hex Snape as much last year,' Lily looked thoughtful for a moment until a knock at the door brought her back down to Earth.

Sirius' voice came from the other side of the door. 'Are ye decent?'

'Are we ever?' Lily and Serena laughed and the boys entered the room. Looking at the two girls, they sat down.

Lily was wearing periwinkle satin shorts and short-sleeve top and Serena was wearing a baby-pink nightgown, under a soft, pure-white bathrobe. Both were smiling as they sat on the bed.

'Ok, this is boring!' announced Sirius.

'Thank you Captain Obvious.'

'So let's make it more interesting! Let's play,' James put his head in his hands, 'Truth or Dare!' Sirius bounced up and down… like a hyperactive five-year-old.

Serena's eyes lit up, 'Okay, but with a twist,' James looked up. 'Jamie, pick a number between one and ten.' James looked at her strangely before answering, 'Three.'

Serena whipped out her wand and wrote in the air:

_Truth_

_Dare_

_Double-dare_

_Kiss_

_Command_

_Promise_

She drew these words out again, twice more and smiled. 'Okay, I'll ask someone, and if they pick one then it's crossed out off the first list and that's done until one list is gone. Then we move onto the second list then the third. Savvy?' The three heads nodded and Serena started,

'Okay...umm…Black, truth, dare, double-dare, kiss, command or promise?'

'Double-dare,' Sirius smirked.

'I dare you to give a pair of your boxers to Minnie at the Welcoming Feast'

Serena looked at Lily and both of them laughed. They stopped, however, when Sirius' smirk was still settled on his face. 'Dear Miss Malfoy, you forgot one, itsy-bitsy, teenie-weenie thing, I picked _double-dare_, so that means I've got to give you a dare that's related to mine?'

Serena's eyes grew wide.

'Well Missy, I dare you back that you have to give your laciest bra to Slughorn, the same time I'm presenting my boxers to Minnie!' Serena looked ready to kill, but held her head up high and shrugged it off.

'Okay, my turn, Lily-kins Truth, dare, double-dare, kiss, command or promise?'

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Now I would like you to review and tell me what you want to happen! Any suggestions for dares, kisses, truths, double-dares, commands and promises are welcome. 

And NOW I have a dare for all of _you, _yes, dear readers, I dare you to review.


	7. Chapter 7

Thank you to all my lovely reviewers! Sorry I can't individually thanks you but if you sign in or leave your email addies or just email me I'll thank you!

I'm really sorry this chapter took so long to get out but a lot has happened. I have a new baby sister!

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Chapter 7**

Lily looked at Sirius, why on earth had he picked her? Lily thought for a moment, she had truth, dare, kiss, command or promise left. If she picked dare it probably would have something to do with James, knowing Sirius and his sick sense of humour. If she picked kiss there would be a one in three chance of kissing James, so that was a no. She didn't want Sirius commanding her to do something and she didn't like making promises, so she was left with one choice.

'Truth,' Sirius got a familiar twinkle in his eye and Lily feared what was to come.

'Okay Lils,' he taunted, then sideways to James, 'Prongs, I'm doing this for you!'

'_Padfoot,_' warned James, but unfortunately Sirius wasn't paying any attention.

'Lils, what's the farthest you've ever gone with a guy?' Sirius and James watched on as Lilly's expression went from scared to horror-stricken in a matter of seconds. With a sideways glance to Serena, she took a deep breath.

'S-s-se-'

'SEX!' yelled Sirius.

Lily looked horrified, 'No Black, s-second.'

'Second? What the hell is second?' asked Sirius. James whispered something in his friend's ear and Sirius grinned.

'So Lily, you're up for a bit of,' he then took his hand to his mouth and moved it over and back with his tongue poking the other side, so it looked like a pencil went through. Lily made a disgusted face and continued with the game.

'Ok Serena, dare, kiss, command or promise?'

'I'm feeling lucky so I'll go for kiss,' Lily rolled her eyes and conjured a bottle and spun it. It spun three times before landing on James. Sirius looked disappointed for a split-second before sending a look to James that clearly said _no-funny-stuff_. James gulped and he and Serena kissed for five or six seconds, no tongues involved.

Lily raised an eyebrow at her friend and left it at that.

Serena resumed her original spot and chose her victim. 'Potter, dare, command or promise?'

'Well, Seri, I'll have to go for command,' he replied raising suggested eyebrows. Sirius whacked him at the back of his head.

This spiralled off a wrestling match that ended after the immature seventeen year olds got hit with pillows.

'Ok boys, can we get back to the game?' asked Lily. James just smirked and responded with, 'Sure Evans and maybe we can play our own little game later.' Lily rolled her eyes and Serena commanded James to "caress Sirius' bellybutton with his tongue" to which Serena laughed at their faces.

Lily on the other hand was thinking over some things in her head. _Is James really after changing, or is he the same egotistical prat he was last year? One minute he's nice and civil and the next he's just hitting on me again. Why can't he just stick with the former?_

James unwillingly completed his command and proceeded to wash his mouth out with soap. When he was finished over dramatising he asked Lily the last two options of the round. Lily picked dare and James thought long and hard before getting an idea.

'Ok Evans, I dare you to take off your bra facing towards the tree of us!' he exclaimed.

'Potter you're so immature, but I'll accept the dare, however stupid it is,' Lily took a moment to think about going about taking off her bra and simply unhooked the front and it fell into her lap. James took a quick glance at it, as Lily threw it carelessly behind her bed; it was white with no shoulder straps and had a diamante hook at the front.

Sirius just gaped at her; it looked like she still had underwear on. James just whacked his friend. Lily just picked Sirius and he had no choice but to pick the last option, _Promise_.

'Ok Black, promise that you'll only go out with one girl this year. That means you can only kiss/chat up/shag _one_ girl and one girl only this school year.'

Sirius looked as if he heard wrong and then looked apologetically to his person. He then looked up at Lily. 'Fine,' he pouted. 'I promise.'

'Ok that's round one over, who wants some food?' Sirius, Lily and Serena nodded and the boys went down to get some.

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Ok hope you all enjoyed it!

Reviews!


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